Christmas Morning in the Vinson House

If a picture is worth a thousand words, you've just been given a six thousand word essay.

Christmas Eve Services

This was the scene at our Christmas Eve services last night.  Our kids were the "acolytes" who lit the candles before the (second) service at 7:30 They were so proud of themselves.  Andrew really wanted to pass the offering plates, too, as you can probably see from the photo.

They were very serious in their trip down the aisle with the light of Christ.

Right up onto the stage they marched, ready to light the candles.

They only needed a little help from dad.

Here is Andrew, hoping that he will get to collect the offering.  He had already been practicing lighting the candles over and over again and was super excited to get to do it!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!  We hope the joy of Christ's birth is renewed in you this holiday season and throughout the new year!

Wondering What to Say?

I had one of those nights last night.  One where I woke up in the middle of the night, stressed about getting everything that's on my plate done.  I won't bore you with all of the details of things I need to do, because I'm sure most of you are or have been in the same boat.  But one detail is pertinent: I'd been struggling with what to preach on Christmas Eve.

I'm sure I'm not the only one; many (if not most?) pastors struggle to say something unique and relevant on Christmas Eve and Easter.  We want to figure out new and fresh ways at Christmas to tell of the birth of Jesus Christ and at Easter to tell of His resurrection.

Yesterday I was puzzling over a sermon that just would not write itself.  I had come up with what I thought was a really good idea (which I'm still going to stick into my "idea bank" to preach another time) but it just wasn't coming along at all. 

This morning in my prayers, I asked God to help me know what I should preach.  As I prayed, the sermon idea immediately came into my head.  Of course, about 180 degrees away from what I'd already been struggling to write.

Then when I opened my igoogle homepage this morning (that's a page that has all of my Google applications all in one place; my Google Reader (blog reader), my gmail, weather, news, etc), the first item on my reader was a blog post by Perry Noble.

In it, he was talking about how his little daughter repeats everything he says.  Then he wrote this:

Hey pastor…are you stressing out about what you are going to say for your upcoming Christmas service?

Why not just do what my little girl does…just listen to your Father and then repeat what He says!

What a great reminder. 

Jonathan Lost a Tooth!

Restaurant Review: Fabian's

Our family purchased the entertainment book as part of a fundraiser for Jonathan and Andrew's preschool, and when we have a day off together and are going out to eat, we try to go somewhere new (with special offers from said entertainment book).

Friday this was our plan: we headed for the Columbus public library in the morning, had pizza for lunch at Fabian's (50% off a pizza), and then went ice skating.

This post is about Fabian's.  We got there shortly after 11:30, and we found an empty restaurant.  Only the bartender was there.  We had the run of the place (literally,after we put in our order).  The boys thoroughly enjoyed the SouthPark pinball machine while we waited.

The decor was Chicago (think Al Capone pictures with a few reminders of the Bears, the Cubs, and the White Sox - you could tell that we weren't actually in Chicago because there were both Cubs and Sox memorabilia together in the same place).  One wall was Christmas ornamented - a little out of place, I thought.

On to the food: we ordered garlic bread as an appetizer.  The garlic bread itself was the usual - we all liked it - but the unusual thing was that they served it with some delicious pizza sauce (on the side).  When I tasted the dipping sauce, I knew that the pizza would be good.

Fabian's bills itself as a "Chicago Style" pizza place, and, well, Tara and I have lived in Chicago, and we know Chicago style pizza.  We (honestly) weren't expecting much.  We checked the menu and ordered the Italian specialty pizza (pepperoni, capicola, sausage, Italian beef) - Chicago style.

When it came out, it looked Chicago style. Deep dish, full of cheese, sauce, and toppings.  I mean really full.  Packed.  And the taste... I was suddenly transported back almost 20 years and I was back in college, enjoying the taste of authentic Chicago pizza.  The crust was delicious, flaky, and buttery.  The sauce was loaded with garlic - not overdone, mind you, but enough that you knew you'd had garlic.  The meats: delicious.  My mouth is watering as I write this.  One piece was enough to fill me up. And I ate left-overs for dinner as well.

I was surprised that such a good restaurant wasn't jam-packed by noon on a weekday. The food was fantastic.  One of the best pizzas I have had in years.  Maybe Columbus just doesn't "get" Chicago style pizza.  Or maybe they're just haven't heard of Fabian's yet.

(tip: if you go on a weekday between 3 and 7 pm, they have some great happy hour deals)

Leading Through Tough Times

These past couple of weeks have been difficult, to say the least.  To have to address an affair between two friends and church leaders is never a fun or easy thing, and to even imagine moving on as a church was extremely painful.

Then in the midst of dealing with that, we had to return our foster baby (a baby who we had been loving and caring for since his birth), to his birth parents.

It made for a tough week, to say the least.

Here are some things that helped me out when dealing with all of the stress and pain in the past weeks:

Read the Bible. The Bible gives us a clear path for leading the church through public sin.  As much as I wished I could ignore or avoid it all, it had to be confronted (1 Timothy 5:20).  That said, it had to be confronted with as much grace as Jesus would offer.

Recognize that you don't live in a vacuum.  I was greatly buoyed by my friends who were all around me to help and support me. I had prayer support everywhere, even from many who didn't know anything of the situation.  They just knew (mostly by my facebook status updates) that something was going on and that they needed to pray. Sometimes it feels like you're the only one to go through anything like you're enduring, but recognition that you're not in a vacuum is also a recognition that others have walked these steps before. Like at the Youth Specialties National Youthworkers Conference a few years back when a speaker asked us if who was living in a "desert" place.  I stood... and watched as nearly half of my fellow youthworkers stood with me (including my close friend who I was rooming with).  It was comforting to know that I wasn't alone!

This also is a recognition that as others have walked these steps, they have resources available to help.  I was glad to be able to call several fellow pastors (close friends as well as others I don't know well but were told that they had walked this path before).

Furthermore, due to the prevalence of podcasting, I was able to listen/watch sermons that other pastors had preached on the subject.  These were extremely helpful to me as I worked to craft a Spirit-filled message to bring to the church on Sunday.

Lean on other leaders. Remember that you aren't alone, and because you aren't alone, you don't have to do it by yourself.  I was overwhelmed when the call came from DJFS that Baby J was going - so I called Rudy (my fellow pastor here), who came over immediately. Likewise, through the whole affair affair, if it weren't for Rudy's tireless work and his constant care for the families involved, I'm not sure how I would have gotten through it.

Get rest. This probably includes setting and sticking to some boundaries.  True, for a time, you'll probably be more consumed with what's going on, and it will probably take more time and energy than you're used to giving, but that's no excuse to run yourself ragged or to ignore your family.  If you ignore yourself, you might get through this crisis but not the next one or the one after that.  And you'll do long-term damage to the church.  There is a reason that God told us to take a Sabbath.

For me, part of getting rest was emotional/mental rest.  Meaning I had to get out and run, which is therapeutic for me.  That meant blocking out time when I would be unavailable on the phone and I couldn't "do" more. It was vitally important.

Don't just move from one crisis to another. Remember to take joy in the life God gave you.  Take joy in your family.  Slow down.  Evaluate everything you're doing; are these important things, or are they just time/energy consuming?

Most importantly, remember that God never left us. As godforsaken as some of the situations we deal with can seem, we aren't alone.  Even if nobody else understands, we have a Holy Spirit who does.  Even if we don't even know how to pray, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.  This is the most important thing to remember when dealing with crises and painful events. 

Baby J Update

It's been a while since I blogged; this was intentional.  First of all, I was on vacation and dial-up isn't all that conducive to blogging (in fact, I didn't even check facebook or e-mail while I was gone).  Secondly, some important things were going on in my life and the life of my church that weren't appropriate to blog about.  And third was that part of life was completely different and I had to make sure that my family and closest friends didn't read it before they heard it.

This post deals with intentionality #3.

Last Friday I went out for a much-needed run.  I got back from an 8 miler and the phone rang.  It was our social worker who had news.  Baby J's hearing, for DJFS' temporary custody extension, had happened.  And the judge granted his birth parents custody.

For us that meant that we had about 1/2 hour to gather his things together and to give him back.  It was a really emotional time for me (and for Jonathan as well).  We were tired already and emotionally spent, and it seemed like this was one more thing on top of all that.  But the reality was, it was an answer to prayer.  We had prayed all along that if we weren't to keep (adopt) him, that we wanted him returned soon.  We developed a good rapport with his birth parents and liked them and were pulling for them to get their stuff done so they could get him back.  They did it, and they deserve their baby. 

We had always said that we were holding him with open hands; that he is/was God's child, not ours, as are Jonathan and Andrew.  We have them for a short time and we'll do our best with them while we have them.

Now we've experienced this part of foster parenting.  We poured our love on Baby J, and I know that was rewarded.  We gave him a great start and showed him the love of Jesus. And he will always be a part of our family and in our hearts.